Roadworthy Certificate and Side Mirrors in Victoria
By Duber, The Car Mirror Man · Car Mirrors Australia · Updated August 2026 · 12 min read
Short answer: a mirror fails a Victorian roadworthy if the reflective surface is cracked, broken, peeled, tarnished, discoloured or deteriorated enough to reduce its effectiveness, or if the mirror is not securely mounted and able to hold an adjustment [1]. Glass on its own starts from $135 fitted, which is a great deal less than failing and re-booking.
In Melbourne? We can replace the glass before your roadworthy at your home or work, anywhere across the metro — see our full Melbourne mirror service.
Nobody books a roadworthy expecting to fail on a mirror. It is one of the least glamorous items on the checklist and one of the most common quiet failures, because the standard covers a lot more than “is it broken”. Two minutes with the actual wording tells you whether your car will pass, and the fix, if it will not, is smaller than most people assume.
When you actually need a certificate
Worth establishing first, because the answer surprises people who have owned the same car for years.
A certificate is current for 30 days from issue for the purposes of a transaction [2], which matters: fail it, spend a week arranging a repair, and you can find the clock has become tight.
The mirror clause, word for word
Victoria's roadworthiness requirements are set out in VSI 26, made under the Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021 [6]. The mirror section is short enough to quote in full.
Read it slowly and you will notice it contains four separate tests, not one. Most drivers only check themselves against the first.
The four tests, unpacked
Each one fails cars independently, and only the first is obvious from the driver's seat.
| The test | What fails it | How common |
|---|---|---|
| Clear view to the rear | Glass missing, shattered, or badly obscured | Obvious, and rare to miss |
| Both sides fitted | One mirror removed and never replaced | Uncommon, but an automatic fail |
| Securely and firmly mounted | Loose housing, broken clips, mirror that moves in the wind | Very common on older cars |
| Capable of appropriate adjustment | Adjuster will not hold, motor dead, mirror drifts | Very common, and easily missed |
| Surface not deteriorated | De-silvering, tarnishing, cloudy edges | The quiet one. Catches a lot of 10-year-old cars |
The last two are where people are caught out, because the car looks fine. A mirror that has slowly stopped holding its position is a fail even with perfect glass.
De-silvering, and why old cars fail on it
The single most-missed mirror failure in Victoria, and the easiest to fix.
Mirror glass is a sheet of glass with a reflective backing. Over years, moisture works in at the edges and lifts that backing. The affected area stops reflecting and turns cloudy or blotchy. It happens gradually enough that the owner adapts to it without noticing.
The standard names it directly — peeled, tarnished, discoloured [1] — so there is no argument to be had at the inspection. It is also a glass-only job, from $135 fitted, and takes about half an hour.
What passes and what does not
Common states, and where each one lands.
| State of the mirror | Result |
|---|---|
| Glass intact, firm, holds adjustment | Pass |
| Small chip at the very edge, no crack | Usually pass, at the tester's discretion |
| Hairline crack across the reflective surface | Fail |
| Shattered or missing glass | Fail |
| Cracked cover, glass perfectly intact | Usually pass unless the housing is loose |
| Mirror moves or rattles in its mounting | Fail |
| Electric adjust dead, mirror still holds position | Often a fail on adjustment |
| Cloudy or de-silvered outer edge | Fail |
| Taped-up glass | Fail |
The cracked-cover row is the one people are surprised by in the other direction. A scuffed or split housing with sound glass and a firm mounting usually passes — it is worth fixing, but it is not what stops the certificate.
What it costs to fail, in real terms
The repair is almost never the expensive part of failing. The expensive part is everything around it.
Which is the entire argument for looking at the mirrors the week before you book, rather than finding out on someone else's hoist.
Doing it in the right order
There is a sequence that saves a trip, and it costs you two minutes.
Sitting in the driver's seat. Glass, mounting, adjustment, and the outer edges.
Send it to us and we will tell you honestly whether it will pass.
Mobile, at your home or work, 30 to 60 minutes.
Arriving with the car already right, rather than hoping.
Done that way, the mirror never appears on the report at all.
Clearing a defect notice with a certificate
Slightly different situation, and a tighter timeline.
If a vehicle defect notice has already been issued, a certificate of roadworthiness is the usual route to clearing it [3], and the notice carries a deadline. Miss it and registration can be suspended, which is a much larger problem than the original mirror.
The practical order is identical — fix the fault, then get the certificate — but the window is fixed rather than chosen. That is why a same-day or next-day mobile repair matters more here than in any other situation.
What we check when you send a photo
We do this several times a week for people booking inspections, and it takes one message.
Cracks, chips, shattering, and how far in from the edge.
The outer edges are where it starts, and where a photo shows it clearly.
Cracks in the cover, and whether the mirror sits square to the door.
Glass, cover or unit, and the fixed price for each.
If it will pass, we will tell you it will pass. There is no sense selling someone glass they do not need a week before an inspection they were going to clear anyway.
Why mirrors fail more often than owners expect
A mirror is the only safety item on a car that lives permanently outside it, at the exact height of every gatepost, trolley and column, and is never serviced. Nothing else on the roadworthy checklist has that combination.
Which is why a mirror is worth two minutes of deliberate attention before an inspection, in a way that most other checklist items are not.
The adjustment test, and why it catches cars out
“Capable of appropriate adjustment” [1] is doing more work in that sentence than most people assume.
Using the switch, or by hand on a manual mirror.
A mirror that drifts on door closure is not holding adjustment.
Wind load will move a mirror with worn detents or a failing motor.
A motor that works in one axis and not the other is a fail.
A dead adjuster motor on a car where the mirror still happens to sit in a usable position is the classic borderline case. Testers differ, but the wording is not ambiguous, and the safe assumption is that it fails.
If the motor is the only fault and the glass and housing are sound, that is often a full-unit job rather than a glass job. Send a photo and we will tell you which before you book anything.
Mounting: the failure people cannot see from inside
“Securely and firmly mounted” [1] is checked with a hand, not an eye, and it is the single most common mirror fail on older cars.
Broken clips inside the housing, a cracked mounting foot, or perished rubber at the door interface all produce the same result: a mirror that moves independently of the car. From the driver's seat it looks perfectly normal. From outside, a firm push tells the tester everything.
Test it yourself the same way. Take the housing in one hand and push gently fore and aft. It should feel like part of the door. Any play, click or rattle is a problem worth dealing with before the inspection rather than after it.
Cars, ages and what we typically find
Broad pattern from the jobs we do in the week before Melbourne inspections.
| Vehicle age | Most common mirror fault | Usual fix |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 years | Impact damage — glass or cover | Glass from $135, cover $150–$300 |
| 6–10 years | Loose mounting, broken clips | Cover or full unit |
| 11–15 years | De-silvering at the edges | Glass from $135 |
| 15 years plus | Adjustment failure plus deterioration | Often a full unit |
The middle two rows are where most Melbourne roadworthy work sits, and both are considerably cheaper than an owner expecting an assembly quote assumes.
Selling privately: the mirror is worth more than the repair
A practical argument that has nothing to do with the certificate.
A buyer inspecting a car reads a de-silvered or scuffed mirror as neglect, and prices the whole car accordingly. It is a visible, touchable fault at eye height on the driver's side, and it does disproportionate damage to a first impression.
Clearing it costs from $135. The discount a buyer attaches to “the mirrors are shot” is invariably more, and it colours everything else they look at afterwards.
Booking a repair around an inspection
The logistics, because this is usually a compressed week.
We come to your home, your work or wherever the car is sitting, anywhere from Werribee through to Frankston and out to the Dandenongs. There is no need to fit a workshop visit into the same week as the inspection, which is normally the part that makes people put it off.
Tell us when the inspection is booked and we will work backwards from it.
What we will tell you honestly
Three answers we give regularly that do not result in a sale.
Mirrors are the only thing we do. That narrowness is exactly why we can afford to tell you when you do not need us.
What Melbourne drivers tell us
Clearing a roadworthy fail is one of the quicker things we do.
Every review quoted on this site is a real, verified customer review. We do not write them and we do not edit them.
Cars we see most often before a Melbourne roadworthy
The pattern is consistent, and it is about age rather than make.
A car in its second decade with original mirror glass is the classic case. It has spent fifteen Melbourne winters outside, the backing has lifted at the edges, and the owner has stopped seeing it. It is a half-hour job and it is the difference between a certificate and a re-book.
Every band above comes from our national price guide, which is the single source of truth for what we charge. If you want the full breakdown by part and by vehicle, read our side mirror replacement cost guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do side mirrors get checked in a Victorian roadworthy?
Yes. VSI 26 requires that mirrors are securely mounted, capable of appropriate adjustment, and that the reflective surface is not cracked, broken or deteriorated [1].
Will a cracked side mirror fail a roadworthy?
Yes. Cracked or broken reflective surface is named directly in the standard [1].
Will a cracked mirror cover fail?
Usually not on its own, provided the glass is intact and the mirror is firmly mounted. It is still worth fixing before water reaches the motor.
Does a cloudy or de-silvered mirror fail?
Yes. Peeled, tarnished, discoloured and deteriorated surfaces are all named in the same sentence as cracked and broken [1].
Can I tape the mirror to get through the inspection?
No. Tape does not restore the reflective surface, and a taped mirror is a straightforward fail.
How long is a certificate valid for?
For the purposes of a transaction, a certificate of roadworthiness is current for 30 days from the date of issue [2].
How fast can you replace the glass before my inspection?
Most glass jobs are 30 to 60 minutes, mobile, at your home or work anywhere across the Melbourne metro. Same-day is often possible.
Do you do the roadworthy inspection as well?
No. We are mirror specialists — we fix the mirror so the inspection is not an issue. The certificate itself comes from a licensed vehicle tester.
More on Melbourne mirrors
Based in Melbourne? These cover the rest of it.
Sources
- VSI 26 Roadworthiness requirements, full text (PDF) — rear vision mirror clause — cdn-nrspp-s3-aus.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/site
- Get a certificate of roadworthiness, VicRoads — www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/roadworthiness/get-a-certificate-of
- Vehicle defect notices, VicRoads — www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/roadworthiness/vehicle-defect-notic
- Roadworthy certificates, test locations and exemptions, VicRoads — www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/roadworthiness/
- VSI 26 — Roadworthiness requirements, Transport Victoria — transport.vic.gov.au/road-and-active-transport/registration-and-licensin
- Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021, Victorian Legislation — www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/statutory-rules/road-safety-vehicles
- Australian Design Rule 14/02 — Rear Vision Mirrors, Federal Register of Legislation — www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2006L02663
- Maintenance and repairs — your rights, Consumer Affairs Victoria — www.consumer.vic.gov.au/consumers-and-businesses/cars/maintenance-and-re
Prices and information in this article are indicative only and reflect real quoted jobs at the time of publication. Costs vary with vehicle, part availability and features. Send a photo for an exact fixed price.
